Winnipeg blizzard: Schools closed, trash pickup suspended as storm sweeps through southern Manitoba
Posted December 18, 2025 9:18 am.
Last Updated December 18, 2025 8:06 pm.
A winter storm system blew across Manitoba on Thursday, forcing school and road closures.
Environment Canada says the winter storm system pushed through the southern part of the province, where blowing snow and gusty winds tapered off later in the day.
Portions of southern Manitoba received up to 20 centimetres of snow and northerly wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour. Travel was “dangerous and likely impossible” due to near-zero visibility, and residents were advised to avoid travel and outdoor activities.
“I’ve already seen a couple of people stuck, but you know what, as it happens in Winnipeg, a bunch of people band together and help out,” said Winnipeg’s Matthew Baron.
“If you have the winter gear you can brave any weather I think.”
Environment Canada says the Alberta Clipper that rocked Winnipeg met the requirements for a blizzard in both length and compromised visibility, making it the worst storm of the season.
Meteorologist Terri Lang says usually it’s Colorado Lows that bring blizzards to Manitoba, calling the recent storm a bit unique.
“Often they’re not that powerful, often they lose a lot of their juice by the time they make it to Winnipeg.”
The national forecaster recorded dangerously low temperatures as a result of the Alberta Clipper, with conditions still falling to what is expected to feel like minus-36 Celsius overnight.
“When you go from plus-5 C to minus-30 C, it’s a bit of weather whiplash,” Lang said.
“I love this,” said Denis Gendron, who was helping push a car that was stuck in the snow. “There’s nowhere else in Canada where you can come, get stuck in the middle of a road, and six people show up to pull out the car.”
Adam Dmytriw was towing out a co-worker on Thursday morning after the snowfall and says the storm that hit the city was no joke.
“My colleague here managed to brave the weather with his Civic, and we decided it’s time to head home, but of course, he couldn’t make it over this embankment here,” Dmytriw said.
“All Manitobans, we think we can brave any conditions, but I should tell folks, stay home today, stay warm.”
Winnipeg snow clearing
The City of Winnipeg says snow clearing of main roads began at 1 a.m., and at 7 a.m. for sidewalks and pathways citywide.
The city is prioritizing main routes and back lanes scheduled for Thursday or Friday garbage and recycling collection.
Plowing of sidewalks was later paused due to blowing snow. The work is expected to resume at 7 p.m. Grader plowing on main routes was also scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
The city is planning to start plowing snow from the remainder of back lanes Saturday at 7 a.m., and residential streets by snow zone Sunday at 7 a.m.
“We will continue scheduling work based on the street priority system,” the city said in a news release.
The annual winter route parking ban remains in effect; there is no parking between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. on streets designated as winter routes.
Power outages, services interrupted
Manitoba Hydro was reporting multiple power outages, warning customers to assume they would be left in the dark for an “extended” period.
“If you’re checking the outage map, please note the estimated restoration times may not be updated,” Manitoba Hydro said. “Because of the blizzard conditions, we don’t have firm timelines. Please assume it will be an extended outage.”
“With so many closed or impassable roads (and highways), there are many areas where we can’t safely dispatch crews to make repairs until visibility and road conditions improve.”
Dozens of flights from Winnipeg Richardson International Airport were cancelled or delayed.
Garbage and recycling collection in Winnipeg was cancelled. The city anticipates pickup scheduled for Thursday will be collected Friday, and pickup scheduled for Friday will be collected Saturday. The Brady Road landfill and all 4R Winnipeg Depots were closed.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) says home care services will be significantly reduced.
“This means most home care clients will not be seen today, unless they are considered high risk,” the WRHA said in a news release.
Main Street Project, a non-profit that serves the city’s most vulnerable, said outreach vans were on the road doing checks on people living in encampments and bus shelters, and offering transportation to safe places.
Cindy Titus, interim director of development at the shelter, said extreme weather days means it’s all hands on deck.
“It’s a busy place. Lots of people coming in for support, needing warm clothing, mittens, winter clothing and stuff like that.”
School closures
All school divisions across Winnipeg cancelled classes, a rare event in the Manitoba capital, where most schools usually remain open during storms.
Those included the Winnipeg School Division, Louis Riel, River East Transcona, St. James Assiniboia, Seven Oaks, and Pembina Trails. Bus transporation for those school division was cancelled as a result.
Elsewhere, the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine (DFSM), Lord Selkirk School Division, Interlake School Division, Hanover School Division, and Red River Valley School Division have also cancelled classes.
The University of Winnipeg closed due to the extreme weather conditions, postponing exams scheduled for Thursday. The University of Manitoba and RRC Polytechnic also decided not to open.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights also decided to close its doors for the day.
Road closures
The province says several roads outside of Winnipeg — like highways and provincial roads — remain closed due to the blizzard conditions. The Manitoba RCMP says travelling on closed highways “is extremely dangerous and should not be attempted.”
Some of those, according to Manitoba 511, include Highway 1 from Winnipeg to Headingley; Highway 2 from Highway 100 to Starbuck; Highway 3 from Highway 100 to Sanford; and Highway 6 from Highway 101 to Highway 67.
Mounties say there have been 11 reports of vehicle collisions on highways throughout the province — between Wednesday 6 p.m. and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. — and “numerous” reports of vehicles stuck in ditches.
About 20 motorists who were stranded due to the road conditions could not immediately be reached by officers or tow trucks.
“There’s been no injuries. I don’t even think we have a collision between vehicles right now. It’s just all single vehicle mishaps where people are going into the ditch,” RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre said Thursday morning.
Other closures
Customer service at the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters on Smith Street was closed Thursday. Station duty remained open for emergencies only.
Manitoba Public Insurance closed all of its Winnipeg service centres, as well as those in Arborg, Beausejour, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk, Steinbach, Swan River and Winkler.
Service centres in Brandon will remain open in a limited capacity. Those in Dauphin, The Pas, and Thompson will be open for regular business.
Across the northern regions of Manitoba, the national weather agency says Arctic-like temperatures are pushing the mercury lower to roughly minus-45 to minus-50 degrees Celsius with the wind chill.
–With files from Morgan Modjeski and The Canadian Press
